Deadline day standings: where all 20 Premier League clubs sit on squad cost

How to read the deadline-day board

The summer window closes on Tuesday 1 September 2026. Under the Premier League's squad-cost rules, what a club can still do in the final days depends less on its bank balance than on one ratio: squad cost as a share of football income.

Two lines matter. At 85% of football income, a financial levy starts on the excess. At 115%, sporting sanctions begin, estimated at six points plus one more for every £6.5m beyond the 115% capacity. Squad cost here means wages plus the annual transfer-fee cost of the squad plus agent, signing and loan fees.

Every figure below is a PSRwatch estimate for the 2026/27 forecast season, taken from club snapshots dated 27 August 2026. They are not official league calculations.

Past the Red Threshold

AFC Bournemouth, 128%. The hardest position on the board relative to size. Estimated squad cost of £268m sits against £209m of forecast football income, leaving them an estimated £27.2m beyond the 115% capacity, which maps to an estimated 10-point deduction on the published ladder. They have added roughly £67m of fees this window, led by Álvaro Rodríguez and António Silva, against only £19.5m of sales. Deadline day needs to be a selling day.

Chelsea, 127.7%. The largest absolute gap anywhere: an estimated £224m of squad cost above the 85% capacity and £66.7m beyond 115%, which maps to an estimated 16-point deduction. The window has been the most active in the league, with about £343m spent, including Morgan Rogers at a reported £115.9m, against £136m of sales. Five loan departures help the wage line, but the model still says only very large permanent sales change the picture.

Levy zone: over 85%, still short of 115%

Fulham, 112.6%. The most precarious margin in the division. An estimated £5.8m of squad cost stands between Fulham and the 115% line, on £238m of forecast income. They have spent about £111m, led by Gonzalo García and Shea Charles, and sold only £17m. One more signing without a sale could put them into red-zone territory.

Everton, 101.9%. An estimated £36.9m above the levy line with £28.6m of headroom before 115%. Brennan Johnson and Merlin Röhl arrived for a combined £43m against a single meaningful sale. No loan departures yet, which leaves the wage line untouched.

Brentford, 99.3%. Six loan departures have already trimmed wages, but £119m of incoming fees against £11m of sales pushes them right up to parity between squad cost and income. An estimated £33.4m of room remains before the Red Threshold.

Newcastle United, 98.5%. The busiest balanced window in the league: about £261m spent and £255m recouped, with Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães both leaving for large fees. That trading keeps them £67.6m clear of the Red Threshold even while sitting an estimated £55.5m above the levy line.

Aston Villa, 96.6%. Net sellers by some distance, with £246m of outgoings against £188m of arrivals after Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa left. Villa still carry an estimated £53.5m of squad cost above the 85% capacity, on £463m of income, but they have £85.4m of space before sporting sanctions come into range.

Brighton & Hove Albion, 96.4%. The usual pattern: £167m of sales, including Carlos Baleba, offset by £133m of reinvestment. Five loan departures reduce the live wage bill. An estimated £33.5m sits above the levy line.

Crystal Palace, 94.2%. Net sellers at about -£25m after Maxence Lacroix's £51m move. That trading is why an estimated £22.9m excess looks manageable rather than urgent, with £51.9m of room before 115%.

Nottingham Forest, 93.5%. The Elliot Anderson sale at a reported £113.4m dominates their window and leaves them net sellers by £81m. Squad cost is still an estimated £23.9m above the levy line, but the Red Threshold is £60.6m away.

Leeds United, 90.8%. The closest of the levy-zone clubs to getting back under 85%, needing an estimated £10.5m of annual squad cost removed. James Trafford and Tarik Muharemović cost a combined £70m, and on £180m of forecast income that spending shows.

On the line

Manchester City, 84.9%. Precisely balanced: an estimated £0.6m of room before the levy line, which is roughly £3m of transfer fees on a five-year deal before wages. Around £264m spent and £281m recovered leaves them net sellers, and £241.1m clear of the Red Threshold. Any deadline-day arrival is a levy decision rather than a sanctions one.

Room to spend

Arsenal, 79.1%. An estimated £43.4m of annual room, worth roughly £217m of fees spread over five-year deals before wages. Bruno Guimarães and Ezri Konsa arrived for a combined £124m, with only £39m of sales, so the room has narrowed but has not run out.

Liverpool, 75.6%. The largest income base in the league at a forecast £848m, and an estimated £79.8m of room. A quiet window by their standards: £89.5m spent, £25.2m recouped, three loan departures.

Manchester United, 73.1%. An estimated £92.8m of room after a heavy window, with £259m spent on Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos among others, and £93m recovered. High amortisation of £227m is already baked in, so future room depends on selling as well as scoring.

Ipswich Town, 69.5%. The most aggressive of the promoted clubs, with about £150m committed in fees. Even so, an estimated £31.6m of annual room remains, because the wage bill of £102m stays modest against £204m of forecast income.

Tottenham Hotspur, 67.9%. The most estimated room in the league at £118.5m, despite spending roughly £332m on Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes among others. Sales of £138m and a £691m income base absorb it. On paper, no club can do more on deadline day.

Sunderland, 57%. Net sellers, with £45m of departures against £32m of arrivals. Their £59m wage bill is the lowest in the division and leaves an estimated £36.4m of room on £130m of income.

Coventry City, 54.5%. Promoted and spending, at about £125m of fees against £4m of sales, yet still an estimated £53m clear of the levy line. Low legacy wages are doing the work.

Hull City, 49.5%. The lowest estimated ratio in the league. £92m spent, a £70m wage bill and £172m of forecast income leave an estimated £61.1m of room, the sort of position that only survives one or two more windows of this pace.

What moves these numbers on deadline day

• Sales, not signings. An outgoing permanent deal books profit immediately and removes both the wage and the remaining annual fee cost. It is the fastest lever available.
• Loans out. A full wage transfer to the loaning club takes cost out of the current season without a sale. Brentford, Brighton, Chelsea and Aston Villa have used this most.
• Undisclosed fees. Several completed deals carry no reported fee. PSRwatch models those cautiously and never presents an invented number as a real one, so a confirmed fee can move an estimate after the window closes.
• Contract lengths. The annual cost of a signing is the fee divided by contract length. A five-year deal costs a fifth of the headline per season, every season.
• Income. European qualification and cup runs raise the denominator, which is why a club can improve its ratio without selling anyone.

You can test any of this yourself. Add a signing, a sale, a wage change or a European run for any club in the PSRwatch calculator, and each club page linked above shows the full breakdown behind its number.

Sources

• PSRwatch financial-rule snapshots, 2026/27 forecast, generated 27 August 2026
• PSRwatch transfer event ledger (Transfermarkt-collected)
• PSRwatch methodology

PSRwatch figures are independent estimates built from filed accounts, provider transfer and wage data, and PSRwatch modelling. They are not official Premier League, EFL or UEFA calculations. Where a fee or wage is unconfirmed we say so, and undisclosed fees are never presented as real numbers.